Brooklyn Center: selling a junk car or one that broke down

The state test, since the city code wasn't found

For the damage part, 168B.011 looks at whether the wheels, motor, drive train or transmission are broken or gone. All the conditions have to apply, so a running car with lapsed tabs does not count as junk here. Brooklyn Center could have stricter local limits on dead or untagged cars kept on private lots. We could not read them online, so call the city before assuming a car can stay put.

The same section defines an abandoned vehicle. One that is inoperable or missing vital parts becomes abandoned after 48 hours on government property, or 4 hours where signs say so. A Brooklyn Center car kept in a closed garage or enclosed storage building falls outside the statute.

If the car gets towed

Section 168B.04 lets local governments and peace officers impound a junk or abandoned vehicle. From there the clocks run like this:

• 5 days (skipping weekends and holidays): the registered owner and any lienholder are told in writing by mail, or through the newspaper when the owner is unknown.
• 15 days after that notice: it may be sold or scrapped. A junk car may go even with a valid plate still on it.
• 15 or 45 days after the notice, depending on the vehicle type: the window to reclaim it by paying the towing and storage.

If the storage bill has grown past what the car is worth to you, towed or impounded walks through your choices.

Hennepin County paperwork

Brooklyn Center is a Hennepin County city. We checked the county's downtown Minneapolis counter: Suite A-025 in the building at 300 South 6th Street, phone 612-348-8240. Measured as the crow flies, it lies roughly 7 miles south of Brooklyn Center. You are not tied to it. To finish the transfer, a Brooklyn Center seller can visit any of nearly 200 deputy registrars working under Minnesota's Driver and Vehicle Services. Brooklyn Center sellers can search drive.mn.gov for one, or call 651-297-2005. The state issues the new title, not the county.

Signing the title over

When a Brooklyn Center seller hands over the car, 168A.10 calls for signing the title's assignment and warranty, plus writing the real price, the sale date, and the odometer and damage disclosures. Nothing in the DVS list of seller steps calls for a notary on your signature. A loan still on the title adds a step: send the lender's release card or a notarized release along.

Leave the plates on. Minnesota hands them to whoever buys the car, prepaid registration tax and all, and your own right to use them stops at the sale. After that, a Brooklyn Center seller files the Notice of Sale online or by mail within ten days. Filing it, or filing within 48 hours of delivery, means you aren't liable as owner once the car is gone from Brooklyn Center. After you sell has the checklist.

Minnesota has had no emissions test since 2000, so a failed check is never what stands between you and a sale here.

Next door

Crystal is 2.9 miles away, Fridley 3.0 and Brooklyn Park 3.3. Statewide rules are on our Minnesota page.

Getting an offer

Fill in the form or call (877) 421-6008. Our truck comes to Brooklyn Center homes, workplaces and repair shop lots across Hennepin County.